Machine for slicing salmon



1939- v. R. A. DALENIUS ET AL 2,170,425

MACHINE FOR SLICING SALMON 2 Sheets-Shet l Fi led March 51, 1938 1 1 i1!INVENTORS G NVSTRGM ,flfi ATTORNEYS.

I i H JEAN LUDVI Mm "VALTER RAM5E5 ANGELO DALENIUS Patented Aug. 22,1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR SLICING SALMON ValterRamses Angelo Dalenius and Jean Ludvig Nystriim, Stockholm, Sweden 3Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for slicing salmon in a veryparticular and effective manner. Salmon, as is well known, is out inslices from pieces on which the skin is still left on one side, theunderside, the slicing having to be completed in such a manner that theskin does not accompany the cut off slices. It has been very difficultto design a mechanically operated slicing apparatus for salmon. capableof working satisfactorily and to cut slices of even thickness without atthe same time cutting off larger or smaller parts of accompanying skin.

The present invention has for its object to produce a machine forslicing salmon in which said disadvantage is removed, and it issubstantially characterized by including an endless conveyor mounted ina machine frame to transport step by step the piece of salmon to besliced, a holder pivotally journalled in the frame and carrying anobliquely positioned knife which is movable back and forth in thelongitudinal direction of the holder, a knife mounted movable back andforth immediately in front of and level with the conveyor, and amotor-driven transmission device for moving the knives back and forth insuch a manner, that the knives are displaced in opposite directions, theknife secured to the holder being adapted to cut the salmon slice fromthe top clear down to the skin at the underside, when the holder isturned downwards, whereas the second knife is adapted only to cut loosefrom the skin the slice of salmon thus out off.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated on the accompanyingdrawings.

Fig. 1 is aside elevation, Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 an endelevation. of the machine. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the lineIV-IV in Fig. 2. Figs. 5 and 6 show two detail views, perpendicularly toeach other, of the main parts of the feed mechanism.

On the drawings, l designates the machine frame in which driving andsupporting rollers 2, 3 for an endless traveling belt conveyor 4 arejournalled, on which the pieces of salmon are fed forwards towards theslicing apparatus. 5 designates the holder of the slicing apparatus,said holder being pivotally mounted in the frame I by means of theobliquely positioned pin 6. The one end of. the holder 5 is adapted toserve as a table I on which a driving motor 8 for the knives is mounted.The opposite end of the holder 5 consists of a horizontal rod 9 securedto the table I. On the rod 9 two arms l9 are secured, between the hubsof which a tube II is mounted around the rod 9. The tube ll carries astop plate l2 against which the forward end of the piece of salmon abutswhile being sliced. Between the ends I3 of the arms ID a thin knifeblade I4 is clamped.

The motor 8 drives a worm IS in mesh with the worm wheel 16, on theshaft H of which an eccentric I8 is secured. The eccentric rod [9connects the eccentric 18 with one of the arms so as to give to theknife [4 a reciprocating mo- 10 tion when the motor is started.

29 is a double-armed lever pivotally journalled on the holder at 2|.Said lever is provided in one end with an elongated hole 22, engaged bya crank pin 23 which for example may be provided on the eccentric I8. Bythis means, the lever 29 will obtain an oscillating turning motionsynchronous with the motion of the knife I4, the lower end of the lever,however, being always moved in a direction opposite to that of the knifeM. This motion of. the lever is transmitted to the lower knife by meansof a link or connecting rod 24.

The two knives i4, 25 are, as indicated in Fig.

4, obliquely positioned with their edges turned 25 towards each other,and they will as already stated be recip-rocated back and forth inopposite directions when the motor is running. The lower knife 25 issecured to a dove-tail shaped guide rail 26 inserted in a correspondinggroove 30 in the wall 21 rigidly connected to the machine frame. On therail 26 a pin 28 is attached, passing through a longitudinal slot in thewall 21 and being pivotally connected to the above mentioned link 24 bymeans of the pivotable head 29' so that the rail 26 will be reciprocatedwhile carrying along the knife 25. The edge of the knife 25 is locatedat such a distance from the conveyor that the salmon skin, as it isbeing gradually loosened from the flesh, may find its way downwardsbetween the knife edge and the conveyor.

When the apparatus is to be used and the piece of fish has been placedon the conveyor so that it will abut against the stop' plate l2, the endof the rod 9 is. grasped by the hand and turned upwards so that thewhole holder 5 with the motor, the upper knife and the transmissionmechanism is turned upwards about the axis 6. The motor is now startedso that both knives will 5 move back and forth in. opposite directions.

Then the rod 9 is again turned downwards while the upper knife isworking its way through the flesh cutting out a thin slice. The rod 9 isturned downwards so far that the knife edge, which in the final positionwill be substantially or almost horizontal, just reaches but does notpenetrate the skin attached to the underside of the flesh. Thus thebottom portion of the slice will still be connected below with the skin,until the slice is cut off from said skin by the reciprocating lowerknife. The cut off slice then drops down on the collecting table 38.

When the upper knife is again turned upwards, the conveyor and thus alsothe piece of fish is moved forwards one step, the length of whichcorresponds to the thickness of the cut slices. This feed motion isaccomplished by a pawl-feed mechanism. This mechanism includes two spurgears 32, 33 being in mesh and journalled in the frame plate 3i, thespur gear 33 being mounted on the shaft of the feed roller 3, and thespur gear 32 being mounted on the same shaft 35 as the lever 34 of thepawl-feed mechanism. On the shaft 35 the ratchet wheel 36 is mounted,the toothed circumference of which is engaged by the pawl 37 pivotallyjournalled on the lever 34. 33 designates a number of holes. Byinserting a stop pin 39 in one of these holes, the size of the feed andthus the thickness of the slices may be ad justed at will. The lever 34is loosely mounted but the ratchet wheel 36 rigidly mounted on the shaft35. 40 is a projecting member secured on some suitable portion of theholder 5 so that the member 40 is moved downwards when the holder 5 isturned upwards. The spring 4! of the pawl is attached to the plate SIand turns the lever 34 so that the latter will abut against the pin 39.This starting position of the lever determines the amount of the feed.

When the projecting member 49 is pressed down, the left end (Fig. 5) ofthe pawl 31 is also pressed down whereby the pawl 3! turns the ratchetwheel 36 and thus the spur gears 32, 33 and the feed roller 3, from themoment when the member 40 strikes the lever 34, which moment will occursooner or later depending on the starting position of the lever.

The arrangement illustrated on the drawings is only to be considered asan exemplified embodiment as the details of the embodiment may be variedwithin wide limits. Thus, for example, it is not necessary to mount thedrive motor on the pivotable holder. The motor may instead be mounted onthe machine frame, in which case the transmission device for the motionof the knives is subjected to a corresponding change.

Having now particularly described the nature of our invention and themanner of its operation what we claim is:

1. A machine for slicing salmon comprising a machine frame, an endlessconveyor for pieces of salmon mounted in said frame, means for drivingsaid conveyor step by step in a forward direction, means forreciprocating said upper knife back and forth in the longitudinaldirection of said holder, a second or lower knife mounted to bereciprocated back and forth immediately in front of and substantially ona level with said conveyor, a transmission device driven by a motor andadapted to reciprocate said knives back and forth in oppositedirections, the upper knife mounted on the holder being adapted to cutthe piece of salmon from the top side down to the skin at the undersideupon the holder being turned downwards, and the second lower knife beingthereupon adapted to cut loose from the skin the slice thus out by theupper knife.

2. Machine for slicing salmon according to claim 1, in which thetransmission device consists of a worm mounted on the motor shaft, andwhich machine includes a worm wheel in mesh with said worm, a doublearmed lever pivotally journalled in the machine frame a connecting rodconnected to the upper knife, an eccentric mounted about the axis ofsaid worm wheel and adapted to operate said connecting rod, a crank pinalso mounted on said latter axis and engaging a slot in one end of saiddoublearmed lever, the second end of said lever being pivotallyconnected to one end of said connecting rod, and the second end of saidconnecting rod being pivotally connected to the lower knife.

3. Machine for slicing salmon according to claim 1, in which the meansfor feeding the endless conveyor forwards in steps, comprises a feedroller for the endless conveyor, a ratchet wheel mounted on the axis ofsaid feed roller, a lever pivotally mounted on the shaft of said feedroller, a pawl mounted on said lever and being in mesh with the teeth ofsaid ratchet wheel, a member connected with the holder of the upperknife and adapted to actuate said lever when the holder is; being turneddownwards, and means for adjusting said lever to different startingpositions so that said member will strike the lever sooner or later andturn it together with said ratchet wheel and said feed roller.

VALTER RAMSES ANGELO DALENIUS. JEAN LUDVIG NYsTRGM.

